De Bruyne dropped from Chelsea squad

Kevin de Bruyne's Chelsea future has been thrown into question after the Belgian international was dropped from Jose Mourinho's first team and told to train with the under-21 squad.

De Bruyne did not feature for Chelsea during Saturday's trip to Tottenham and will not travel to Romania for the Champions League tie with Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday.

Mourinho recently spoke of De Bruyne's need to adapt to playing for a big club, while according to the Daily Mail the attacking midfielder was reportedly told to train with the under-21 side for the next three days.

The 22-year-old enjoyed a successful loan spell with Werder Bremen last season but, having rejected opportunities to return to Germany, has only featured in four of Chelsea's nine games at the start of their campaign.

De Bruyne started in Chelsea's opening Premier League fixture against Hull and the goalless draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, but has fallen out of favour since.

Mourinho offered him a recall against Swindon in the League Cup, but was not impressed with the player's performance and wasted no time in voicing his concerns before his side's trip to Tottenham - stating De Bruyne had to think he was "playing for his next appearance".

De Bruyne joined Chelsea in January 2012 from Genk for a fee of £6.7 million.